


Half a World Away

by Morgana



Series: Back From the Brink [1]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-07
Updated: 2014-12-07
Packaged: 2018-02-28 12:56:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2733350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morgana/pseuds/Morgana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Far away from Sunnydale, Riley stumbles across the last person he ever wanted to see</p>
            </blockquote>





	Half a World Away

Riley didn't put a lot of faith in anything anymore. For years, he'd believed in a lot of things - in the mission, in strength, in love, in himself. Then, one by one, he'd lost them. The mission had fallen apart when he'd learned about the Initiative's true purpose, he'd lost the strength he'd thought came from hard work and training, and love... well, love had died when he came back to camp to find everyone in his unit slaughtered. Including his wife.  
  
He'd put in for an immediate transfer, and although 'immediate' in the Army usually meant 'six months, minimum', someone must have rushed the paperwork, because he got new orders the week he was released from the hospital. Nothing too urgent, and thankfully nothing supernatural, just helping guard a group of missionaries in Uganda. He wondered if he'd been given the duty as a way to restore the faith he'd long ago abandoned, or if he'd just been the first available name on the list. Either way, it really didn't matter to him.  
  
Or at least, it didn't until he first heard the rumors about the  _ejjembe_. He'd overheard the tale in a bar, about the crazy  _omweeru_  who'd come to challenge the local legend, to demand what he'd lost, and as soon as he heard the word  _envi_ , he knew who it had to be. The black clothes and bad attitude he heard about only confirmed his suspicions, so Riley set out to do the one thing he should've done long ago: take Spike out.  
  
He hadn't been hard to find, hadn't taken any sort of steps to cover his trail, but half a world away from Sunnydale, that wasn't surprising. Although, staring down at the shivering wreck of a man that was currently kneeling on the dirt floor of the abandoned hut, Riley wondered if he hadn't somehow been hoping to be found. Not by him, surely, but somebody else. Whoever had driven him here, he supposed, until he realized that could only be one person.  
  
"Buffy," he said quietly, and drew in a harsh breath when Spike flinched and dug his nails even deeper into the bleeding wound on his chest. "Jesus."  
  
"He's gone," Spike muttered. For a second, Riley thought he was playing with him, but the blue eyes that turned up to meet his reflected wild madness with none of their usual sly mocking. "Died for our sins, they said, but that's not right. Can't die, doesn't make it right if you  _die_ , does it?"  
  
Riley thought about the destruction in Brazil, about black and smoking ruins and bodies burnt beyond recognition. "No, I guess you can't." Privately he doubted things could ever be 'made right' again, but that wasn't a discussion he really wanted to have with this particular pain in his ass. "What the hell are you  _doing_ here, Spike?"  
  
He laughed, a hollow sound that sent an uneasy shiver up Riley's spine. "Nowhere else to go, was there? Couldn't stay, not after -"  
  
"After what?" he asked sharply, his hand tightening around the stake. If he'd hurt Buffy...  
  
Spike shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Not anymore. Wanted to give her - give her what she deserved. Wanted to be a better man for her." He shuddered, a dry sob racking his frame. "An' now I see it. I'll always be a monster. The things I've done..."  
  
 _The things he'd done._  What the hell did that mean? Spike was a vampire - they didn't care about their actions, wasn't that what being a vampire meant? No conscience, no consequences, no... "Holy shit," he whispered, staring at the cowering blond in amazement. "You - did you get your soul back?"  
  
Another wild laugh answered him. "Does it show? Bit surprised, that. Doesn't exactly seem like it'd shine."  
  
Yeah, he could see how a hundred years of rape and murder would tarnish a soul. Hell, his own was probably pretty dingy, and he hadn't done anything even approaching Spike's atrocities. But if he wasn't acting, Spike was paying for all of it, with interest. Riley guessed this was supposed to be the part where he gloated over his defeat and reveled in his pain, but he didn't think anyone could look at the pathetic creature in front of him without pity.  
  
Slowly easing into a crouch, he laid the stake down, making sure it was still within easy reach if this turned out to be some kind of game. Spike didn't look up at him, but when Riley held a hand out towards him, he went still, like a rabbit that had just seen a hawk above. Something about the fear he could see in every line of the vampire's body made him want to help, even if he knew he shouldn't. "Hey," Riley said quietly. "I'm not gonna hurt you, okay?"   
  
He had no clue why he was offering that kind of assurance; he should just stake him and walk away, but he couldn't do that. From a very young age on, Riley had never been able to ignore an animal in pain. His mother had shaken her head every time her son brought another wounded stray home to patch up, but other than making sure he kept them out of the house, she'd never told him no. Of course, he mused, as he helped Spike up and led him back to his jeep, a vampire might have been the last straw...


End file.
